1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to crimp die assemblies adapted to be mounted in a press for crimping terminals onto stripped insulated wire leads. More particularly, the present invention relates to a crimp die assembly which is adjustable.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Crimping machines have been found to be very useful for the purpose of effectively crimping a metal terminal or the like onto a stripped insulated wire lead. The crimping machine generally includes a crimp die assembly mounted on a bench press.
Ordinarily, terminals of the type which are commonly used are formed on a carrier strip adjacent to one another. The terminal strip is then fed into the crimp die assembly where each terminal is fed one at a time to a crimping station whereat the terminal is crimped onto a wire lead.
More specifically, most crimp die assemblies include a base with a terminal supporting structure for supporting the strip of terminals. The supporting structure has a crimp station whereat a terminal is crimped into the wire lead. The crimp station generally includes an insulation anvil and a conductor anvil. A punch assembly which forms a portion of the crimp die assembly is mounted opposite the crimp station and is operably connected to the press for reciprocal movement toward and away from the crimp station. The punch assembly includes an insulation punch and a conductor punch adapted to engage a wire lead and terminal at the crimp station.
A crimp die assembly also includes a terminal feed assembly associated between the punch assembly and the terminals for feeding the strip of terminals one at a time to the crimp station in response to the movement of the punch assembly.
Very often, a manufacturer employing a crimping machine uses many different kinds of terminals and sizes of wire. In conventional crimping machine designs, whenever a different gaged wire is used or whenever a different shaped terminal is used, the whole crimp die assembly must be removed from the press and a new crimp die assembly is mounted in lieu thereof. Of course, the new crimp die assembly will have a different shaped conductor and insulation anvils and punches, as well as a different feeding distance increment which is performed by the terminal feed assembly.
In view of the variety of terminals and wires, manufacturers have had to stock various models of crimp die assemblies. This has proven to be very expensive.